This is my first time as a Science Olympiad participant, and my event is Sounds of Music, where I build an instrument. I decided on a homemade violin. We cut out the shape (trapezoids), sides, neck, and fingerboard already. The size of the trapezoids are height of 10 3/8" with bases 6 1/8" and 3 5/8". The width of the sides is 1 1/4". As you can see the neck (~6 1/4" and we lopped off the scroll) and fingerboard (8") are relatively tiny.
The requirement for the competition is to play a one-octave scale in tune, so we are only going to put the D string on this violin.
I was wondering if there were any other technical issues we should take into account, because I know that the vibrations have to work in a certain way. Do we still need the soundpost on the inside of the violin? Because I think it was just for supporting the instrument. I also know that the bridge needs to be held down purely by the string because it needs to vibrate as well. What other parts should I specifically know about, such as the end blocks on the inside for the base of the neck and the tailpiece? Is it okay to put everything together with wood glue?
By the way, the materials are all maple plywood. I heard that plywood instruments have pretty bad sound quality and tone, but it's what I have access to.
And.. any ideas on how to build the bow?